Profiling the Truth
by evgrrl09
Summary: ****CO-WRITTEN WITH POLHOP*** A case with aspects that can't be explained brings together the BAU and Agents Mulder and Scully. Can they work together using profiling to find the supernatural killer before it's too late? Pairings: Morgan/Garcia and Mulder/Scully
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

 **Howdy everyone! So this is a story written by both evgrrl09 and PolHop. We both love the X Files and Criminal Minds, so we collaborated on this story to get these fabulous characters together. Leave a review for us if you have some time :)**

 **A note on the X Files portions: This story takes place in 2015, and what we've done is just moved Mulder, Scully, and Skinner to present day.**

 _Outside of Devils Tower, Wyoming_

Daniel Watkins fiddled with his keys, as he got ready to enter his small trailer. He had an exhausting day at work, and he was ready to prop his feet up on his coffee table and crack open a lukewarm beer. As he trudged inside, he kicked his shoes off and flipped the television on. He grabbed a beer and flopped down in his worn armchair to watch a rerun of _The Dukes of Hazard_. After drinking half his beer, he lit up a cigarette.

The clock ticked by to midnight, and Daniel hadn't moved from his spot since arriving home. All was quiet, save for the sound of the television. Yawning widely, he rubbed his face and stubbed his sixth cigarette out.

It would be smart for him to get to bed now. He sighed and flipped the TV off, heading off to his bedroom. As he did, he heard a creak from his front stoop. Grunting, he stumbled to his front door to see what was causing the noise. When he pulled his front door open, he peered out into the darkness. His porch light did not extend far, and he could see nothing beyond a ten-foot radius. The blurred vision from his inebriation did him no favors.

Faint footsteps caught his attention, but that couldn't be right. Nobody would be around this late at night. Then he heard it again, followed by a bang. At first he believed he might have been wrong and just hearing things. But then a pattering of footsteps could be heard, followed by a bang. It sounded as if the assailant had struck his car.

Frowning, he called out, "Who the hell's out there?"

He received no reply, save for the shuffling of more footsteps.

"I've – I've got a gun!" he threatened, stepping off his front stoop and onto the bone-dry earth. He took a few tentative steps away from his trailer. The hairs on the back of his neck rose when silence fell.

Suddenly, he felt the burning desire to run and barricade himself inside his home. Backing up, he swiftly turned and bolted for the door. Before he could reach it though, it slammed shut. He had no earthly idea how it had. There was no wind, no breeze whatsoever. His eyes went wide, and he shot forward to attempt to try to yank the door open.

Something kept it closed. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge. "What the hell!" he cried.

Behind him, a groaning sounded. He turned around and pressed his back to the side of the trailer. His head shot side to side in fright. The groaning became deafening, and Daniel cried out in terror. When he realized it was his car being lifted into the air by an unseen force, he stood, frozen in place. The car spun around in the air, going in vicious circles.

"Sweet Jesus," he said, shaking uncontrollably.

He had no opportunity to run as the car shot through the air toward him. The instant it hit his body, it smashed him into the wall of his trailer in a mess of blood and bone.

XXXXX

 _Quantico, Virginia_

"What have we caught, Baby Girl?" Derek asked as he took a sip of his coffee. The round table room had filled with the team, and Penelope was readying the screens to present the case.

Penelope grimaced. "Nothing good, my love," she said. "All of us are headed to an area just outside Devil's Tower in Wyoming."

"Well that explains why you're coming with us, Garcia," Rossi remarked, looking at his tablet. "This place will practically be a dead zone."

Derek was pleased his best friend would be coming on this case with them. He was itching to get to spend time with her, and even a case would allow him to see her more. He smiled internally, knowing if he did outwardly it would seem out of place with the case.

Nodding, Penelope turned on the stream of photos. "We'll have some troubles with signals out there, but I'll do my best," she said. "Now, the victims names are Lexi Hanson and Daniel Watkins." She produced the crime scene photos of the dead bodies. Wincing, she lowered her eyes to avoid looking at them.

Even Derek had a hard time stomaching these photos. The bodies were not covered in stab wounds or sprinkled with bullet holes. No, they were smashed. Blood splatters surrounded both the bodies, and splinters of bone littered the ground. The male victim's body looked as if something had struck him in the middle of his body. His chest had burst open where his ribs were poking through his skin. Organs were visible.

The female victim was unrecognizable; her head had been smashed in to the point she was not identifiable.

"The amount of overkill on these victims indicates severe rage," Derek began, breaking the shocked silence in the room. He had no idea what kind of monster would do this to a person, but he needed to push those feelings aside and tried to remain objective.

"To say the least," Penelope commented, keeping her face down and shielding her eyes from the screen. She gulped. "Can – can I switch the photos? _Please_!"

Derek gave her a sympathetic glance. He was glad when Hotch nodded, and she changed to a map of Northern Wyoming. Penelope breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down in her seat, folding her hands in front of her. "Alright, now that those are out of the way, let's talk deets. I've been in contact with the sheriff at the police department, and they're eagerly expecting our arrival. They've never seen a series of murders, much less a serial killer. And it's a good thing I'm coming with you because they are back in the stone ages in terms of operating systems."

Hotch started to rise from his seat. "We need to get there as soon as possible before we have another crushed body on our hands," he said. "Wheels up in thirty."

XXXXX

 _Washington D.C._

"Mulder, what exactly was so important you rushed me here on a Saturday?" Scully asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "And…what exactly are you doing?"

Mulder glanced down from flicking pencils up in the air toward the ceiling. Since he received a call from Wyoming, he had gone to work searching through the files for any signs of what could have done this to two grown, healthy people. As soon as he realized he had nothing that fit this description, he sent Scully a text for her to get to the office as soon as possible.

Rising from his seat, he abandoned his pencils and pulled up images on his computer to show to his partner. "C'mon Scully, don't tell me you had plans this weekend," he teased. Her usual eye roll he saw with much regularity made him smile. In all the insane cases they followed, at least he could count on her to be her usual skeptical self.

Even when he tried desperately to get her to believe in the very real dangers in the world, somehow her skepticism was something constant and reliable in his life.

"Go ahead," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She made no answer on whether or not she had plans.

Clicking through a series of files, he pulled up the grisly images of two destroyed bodies. Scully's eyebrows raised, but otherwise she made no reaction.

"These two victims, Daniel Watkins and Lexi Hanson were found dead in a small town outside of Devils Tower, Wyoming," Mulder started to explain. "Lexi Hanson's face was crushed in, while Daniel Watkins was nearly cut in half by something striking his midsection."

"And how did you come across this case?" Scully asked.

"Glad you asked," Mulder said, raising his finger to grab a scrap of paper he had scribbled the name down on. "I got a call from a guy named Hank West, who runs a local general store. Apparently Mr. West reads the online edition of _The Lone Gunmen_ , and when he saw what was going on in his town, he got ahold of Byers who directed him to us."

Scully shook her head. "I'm not following," she said. "Is this Mr. West claiming this is some kind of alien activity?"

"He apparently thinks aliens are responsible, but I'm not convinced that's what it is, and neither is Byers," he replied, leaning against his desk.

"I'm failing to see where the X File is in this," Scully said. "It would take a particularly violent killer to do something like this, but it's not out of the realm of possibility this could be done by a man. There's no need for us to go all the way out there to the middle of nowhere."

Raising his finger, Mulder nodded. "Ah, but there is one detail I haven't mentioned yet," he said. "Mr. Watkins' car was found flipped over near his body…with his blood and bone fragments splattered on the front bumper."

Scully arched a brow. "What are you suggesting this is? Someone with super strength throwing heavy objects at people?" she asked with doubt.

Mulder shrugged. "Not sure yet," he said. "But I've booked us two plane tickets out there. Our plane leaves in two hours."

Blowing out a sigh, Scully turned for the door. "I'll clear my schedule," she remarked dryly.


	2. Devil's Tower

"This place is awful, Hot Stuff," Penelope remarked as they walked into the station. They arrived in the near deserted town not long ago. Garcia was not a fan of the environment out here. The dry air was wreaking havoc on her hair, and there was no scenery to speak of.

On their way to the station, she saw a tumbleweed; an actual honest to god tumbleweed. She thought those only existed in old time country movies.

This case was not going to bode well for her RPG's; she could barely get signal on any of her cell phones.

"It's not that bad, Baby Girl." Morgan said, as put his hand on the small of her back, leading her inside.

She rolled her eyes. She would have argued with him, but the heat was getting to her. When they made it inside, Sheriff Roberts, the man that requested their help, greeted them.

"Welcome to Devil's Tower," Roberts said, extending his hand to Hotch. "Sheriff Mark Roberts. Great to make your acquaintance. We have been rackin' our brains with this one. We've never had anything like this in our town."

"Glad to help. I'm Agent Hotchner." He turned to motion behind him. "These Agents Rossi, Morgan, Blake, Jareau, Doctor Reid, and our technical analyst Penelope Garcia."

Garcia watched as Sheriff Roberts eyed her strangely.

Roberts nodded his head. "If you'd follow me, I can get you set up with the other agents that arrived about an hour ago." He started leading them to the room they'd be working out of. "When I asked for the FBI's help, I never thought I'd get the expertise of _two_ teams."

"Excuse me?" Hotch asked, as he followed the Sherriff.

Roberts turned a little to look at him, "You know? The ones that were sent to help assist you in the case. Something about strange occurrences."

Garcia interest was peaked. _Strange occurrences_ were right up her alley.

Before Hotch could question further, they were escorted into the room where a red headed woman and a tall man stood, observing crime scene photos.

"Agents Scully and Mulder?" Roberts got their attention. "The other team is here. I'm going to let you guys get settled. I have to check in with my deputies on how the canvasing in town is going." He exited the room.

Garcia watched Hotch's jaw set in a hard line. Something about this male agent seemed to irritate him. The agent before them hadn't even said a word yet. "Agent Mulder," he said, tightly. "Can I ask you what you're doing out here. This isn't exactly an X-File. Nothing unexplainable that would qualify as _supernatural_."

Garcia leaned over to Morgan, pulling his ear to her lips, "What's an X-File?" she whispered. She watched as Morgan smiled back at her, trying not to laugh, "They're a classification of cases that have unexplainable events. That's Fox ' _Spooky'_ Mulder, and his partner Dana Sully. Basically they investigate the weird shit. You know, the creature from the black lagoon, Bigfoot…aliens."

Garcia's eyes widened before turning back towards the agents. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Agent Hotchner," he said. He arched a brow. "It is Agent Hotchner, right?" He even seemed to be challenging Hotch. Garcia couldn't help but admire that. Not many people would dare do that under Hotch's steely gaze.

"Yes," Hotch ground out. "That's me."

"Well, Agent Hotchner, there's a lot that can't be explained by this case," Mulder said, returning his attention to the case photos on the table.

"And what would one of those be?" Derek asked, condescendingly.

Mulder turned back to them, placing one hand on his hip. "What about how our second victim was crushed in half by his own car? How could someone lift a car up like that?"

Rossi scoffed. "Someone could easily have driven that car into them."

Shaking his head, Mulder effortlessly went on. "According to my medical doctor partner, his legs would have been crushed. This man's legs were nearly untouched, and it was mostly his upper body crushed."

"This case doesn't involve any X File," Hotch reiterated, ignoring Mulder's idea.

Scully spoke up. "Dana Scully," she greeted, "And agents I can assure you we're just here to help. Both of us have extensive experience creating profiles. Agent Mulder was in the violent –"

"Yes, yes we know," Rossi grumbled. "He was in the violent crimes unit. Then he threw away his career for little green men."

"Gray," Mulder mumbled.

Clearing her throat, Scully went on, ignoring both her partner and Rossi. "Regardless, Agent Mulder is a talented profiler, and his help will be invaluable to you."

Garcia watched as her boss scrutinized the uninvited agents. She couldn't help but ponder about the other unit. The X Files intrigued her. She hadn't know there was a unit dedicated to the unexplainable.

"I just don't see where we would need any of _your_ assistance," Hotch said yet again.

"We both want the same thing: to catch this bastard," Mulder said. "If you don't want to, we won't work together, but right now we should focus on finding whoever did this. Whoever – or _whatever_ – this is that killed these two people with a shit ton of rage. At some point there will be some form of devolution. And then there will be more blood in the streets."

Garcia watched as Hotch thought for a moment, before speaking again. "Alright," he said reluctantly. "You stand back, though. You don't act unless we give the okay." He turned towards his team. "This is, Rossi, Blake, Jareau, Reid, Morgan and Garcia."

Scully nodded to them. "Good to meet you," she said. "And we'll absolutely stay out of the way. We'll be in the background."

Hotch still narrowed his eyes before turning away from Scully and Mulder. Penelope could tell he was going to spend as much time ignoring these two as possible. "Rossi and Blake, go see the scene where Lexi Hanson was killed; Reid and JJ, you'll go to the coroner's office, and Morgan, you and I will go to Daniel Watkins' trailer. Garcia, stay here and try and get your systems set up."

"Aww, why don't you stay here at the station to get things set up?" Mulder suggested with fake innocence. He blinked and gave a small smile. "I'll go with Agent Morgan. I'd like to get a look at the scene."

Morgan glared, but then arched a brow. "Alright," he said. "Let's see what you can do, Spooky."

"I'll go to the coroner's office," Scully said simply. "That's where I'll be the most help."

"You have experience with the ME's office?" Hotch asked, skeptical.

"Yes, agent. I usually preform the autopsy's on our cases." Scully answered, evenly. She gave Hotch a cool stare, indicating she was done with his attitude.

 _Damn,_ Garcia thought. _I like these two._

"Alright, then. You can go with them to the coroner's office," Hotch informed them before turning to Garcia.

"Garcia, I need you to start searches as soon as you're set up. Search for cases in this region where there is a similar MO. Also search for any connections between these victims. That will help me with victimology."

Garcia nodded in understanding. As she started for the room she would be setting up her mini command station, Agent Mulder came up to her. He had his phone pulled out.

"Garcia, right?" Mulder asked.

She looked up at him, blinking several times. This man was extremely attractive. He even rivaled Morgan in looks. Blushing, she cocked her head to the side. "What can I do for you, Handsome?" she asked, giving him a grin.

He chuckled, but just took it in stride. "Give me your number so I don't have to have dark and broody over there call you every time I have a question," he said.

Flattered, Penelope prepared herself to give him the ten digits to reach her. However, before she could, Derek came up behind her and glared at Mulder. His hand rested on the small of Penelope's back as he spoke. "You need something, you have _me_ call her," he snapped. "I've got her number; you don't need it."

"Umm, excuse me?" Penelope said to Derek, irritated. What did Derek think he was doing, getting in the way of her conversation with a handsome bachelor? He was lucky she loved him so much, or he would be dead meat.

"Ha, okay," Mulder relented without a fight. "I'll have you give her a call." He winked at Penelope before heading for the door

Penelope pursed her lips at Morgan. "You know, you could be a little nice to him," she said. "And I _will_ be giving him my number. He can call me if he wants."

"Baby, you don't need that lunatic blowing up your phone," Derek tried.

She rolled her eyes. "Call me if you need me," she snipped, heading toward her room. She wasn't interested in dealing with Derek and his territorial possessiveness.

XXXX

Scully walked into the medical examiner's office with Agent Jareau and Dr. Reid. She remained relatively quiet on the way over, only speaking when she was asked a question. She wanted to take the time to observe her and Mulder's new allies. She could only imagine the phone call she would be getting from Walter Skinner when he found out she and Mulder had gone and trampled on another team's territory.

"Are you the folks from the FBI?" an older gentleman asked as soon as the three of them stepped over the threshold of the coroner's office. That did not surprise Scully; this type of crime was not typical in an area like this.

Dr. Reid nodded. "Yes, that's us," he said. "This is agent Jareau, I'm Dr. Reid, and this is Agent Scully. Which way are the bodies? We'd like to get a look at them as soon as possible."

The man nodded. "Come this way," he said with urgency. "I'm Dr. Johnson."

Scully nodded as the three of them followed Johnson down the short hallway of the old building. "What can you tell us about the victims?" she asked, hoping to find a solid lead into what happened to these victims. She figured the stern Agent Hotchner would not take kindly to the ideas Mulder spouted everywhere he went.

"Well, we've only been able to do an autopsy on the first victim," the coroner said, pushing open the doors to the morgue. The bodies lay on two metal examining tables, sheets covering them from the shoulders downward. Scully strode forward to the body of Lexi Hanson.

"This is unbelievable," she said as she examined the smashed in face of the female victim. "And you haven't been able to determine what caused this type of injury yet?"

The coroner shook his head. "Not yet, we were only just able to identify her as Lexi Hanson after discovering a tattoo on her lower left ankle. Her fiancée had to identify her by that."

Scully continued her examination of the unrecognizable face. It looked as though a heavy object had been thrown into it, but only once. "Dr. Reid. What do you make of this?"

Reid walked over from the male body to the females. Scully used her index finger to motion to the caved in part of the skull. "It looks as though the object hit her here, but she was only struck once."

"How do you know she was only stuck once?" JJ asked, walking over to them.

"If she had been stuck multiple times, there would be other areas of impact." Reid explained, "You can see here, where her nose used to be, a heavy object hit her so forcefully it smashed her head comparable to Gallagher smashing a watermelon."

Scully looked up at the young doctors face after hearing his analogy. "So this victim was hit once in the face, but the other was nearly cut in half. We're looking for two entirely different objects since they found the car was used to kill Daniel Watkins."

Scully watched as Reid pondered this information racking is eidetic memory to see if he knew of any object capable of causing these types of injuries, "I honestly have no idea," he said regretfully.

Turning back to the coroner, Scully asked, "If it would be alright with you, I'm a medical doctor, and I'd like to conduct the autopsy on Daniel Watkins. Will that be a problem?"

The coroner nodded. "That should be fine. And if you'd like, I've just received some test results from Cheyenne. They were on some debris we found on the victim's face. I don't know if it will be any help."

Scully looked at JJ as she removed her light jacket and set it on a hook. "Is that something your technical analyst could use to help us?" she asked.

"I'll call Garcia. There's nothing she won't be able to find if there's information on it out there," JJ said stepping out of the room to call Garcia.


	3. Footprints and Missing Tire Tracks

**Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

 **Sorry this has taken so long to come out with this chapter. I've been busy with school, and PolHop has been nice enough to be patient with me when it's my turn to write the chapter! Thank you for the readership and reviews, and we both sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

"So you a sports fan?" Mulder asked as he and Morgan sped down the vast road of the American West. In the distance they could see the outline of the infamous Devil's Tower, but they were not there for sightseeing. They were headed to the sight of the first victim, and because Morgan seemed to think he was a complete idiot, Mulder thought sports rather than the case details.

Morgan, whose eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, scowled. "Small talk?" he asked, his voice hostile. "I'm surprised we're not talking about the little green men you threw your career away for."

Mulder merely shrugged. "That is my specialty," he said. "And you're thinking too much of what the government has been spoon-feeding the public since the forties. Aliens are gray…like I mentioned to your teammate at the station."

"Don't care," Morgan muttered, his voice bitter. "If you didn't already get the picture, I don't believe in that shit. It's stuff from movies."

"Your lovely friend, Garcia, seemed pretty interested in what Scully and I work on," Mulder pointed out rather smugly.

Morgan's jaw hardened at the mention of Garcia. Clearly he didn't want the technical analyst's name leaving Mulder's mouth. That amused him.

"I seriously want to know, though," Derek muttered as he flipped his blinker on. "Why would an Oxford educated profiler throw away a career in the Violent Crimes Unit to do the shit you're doing now? You could have been in the BAU, but you're out there chasing bullshit that doesn't exist."

Mulder shrugged. "When you discover the truth is out there, you have to chase it," he answered. "I can help people this way better than if I was working with you all."

The other agent scoffed. "You're wasting your life, Mulder."

Before Mulder could respond, the car pulled up to a trailer off the main road. Crime scene tape surrounded the area around a flipped over car. Blood covered the side of the trailer.

Morgan stopped the car and the two exited the vehicle. Neither of them spoke as they walked across the dusty ground. The sun beat down on them, causing sweat to pool on the back of Mulder's neck. Morgan strode toward the bloody scene without saying a word to Mulder. He walked away from Morgan to observe the area surrounding the trailer.

Daniel Watkins would not have been able to see anyone if the night was dark and the new moon had been in the sky. His light outside his trailer would not have travelled far, concealing any assailant in the shroud of darkness. If anyone was out here the night of Daniel Watkins' murder, they could have stayed in the shadows to use whatever supernatural force they had to hurl the car toward him.

At this point, there was a multitude of possibilities that could throw the car at the victim. Mulder couldn't tell what it was just yet, but there were a number of creatures in the X Files records that could have the strength to lift a car such as this or cave in the face of Lexi Hanson.

Scrunching his forehead, Mulder began to circle the area around the trailer. His shoes crunched on the dusty ground beneath his feet, and he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of whoever or whatever had been preying on Daniel Watkins.

"Mulder, get your ass over here!" Derek called from across the space between them. "You're not gonna find anything way out there when the murder weapon is over here."

Looking down at the dirt directly in front of his feet, Mulder smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Morgan," he responded. He looked up and watched as the bulkier agent's thick eyebrows furrowed in a frown. Lifting his hand, Mulder pointed to the ground right in front of him. He squinted against the brightness of the sun as he waited for Morgan to realize he had no intention of moving.

"Oh for fuck's sake," he heard Morgan grouse. Part of him couldn't help but laugh at Morgan's irritation. This man was going to be interesting to work with, perhaps even more so than his veteran superiors. It only helped he had a crush on the BAU's technical analyst.

The man had a gaze about him when he looked at her.

Morgan reached Mulder and looked down at him over his sunglasses. "What?" he growled. "Why are you all the way out here when the damn car is –"

"Morgan, would just look down?" Mulder said, nodding to the ground. He waited as Morgan looked at where he had gestured.

Arching a brow, Morgan looked down after pushing his sunglasses onto the top of his head. He looked away from Mulder and down at the dirt. Rolling his eyes, he looked back up.

"These are shoeprints," Morgan grumbled, looking back up at Mulder. "I'm pretty positive these were _not_ made by aliens."

Mulder shook his head. "I don't think this was extraterrestrial," he replied. "These were made by the unsub."

Morgan rolled his eyes. "Are you serious? Are you really gonna waste my time with this when the realmurder evidence is over there?" He pointed to the blood-spattered trailer. "Besides what makes you think these belong to the unsub? This is Daniel Watkins' property, these could plausibly be his."

"Do these really look like a male made them to you?" Mulder asked, rolling his shirtsleeves up on his forearms. No, he did not believe these were the footprints of aliens; hell, they definitely _looked_ human…or something that could at the very least claim human form. "They're far too small. These look like women's shoes."

Taking another look at the shoe prints, Morgan frowned. He looked back up at Mulder and reluctantly nodded. "They do look like that," he admitted begrudgingly. "But how could a woman possibly do this? A man would have trouble getting that car to –"

Before Morgan could continue, Mulder walked off toward the car. He kept his eyes on the ground. Looking back up, he pointed to the dirt. "You notice anything else about this that's interesting?" he called to Morgan.

The other man rolled his eyes and came to look at where Mulder was standing. He gazed at the ground and his frown intensified. "There aren't any tire tracks," he said in wonder.

Smirking, Mulder said, "Now that right there is an anomaly I would say."

Glaring at him, Morgan put his sunglasses back over his eyes. "Don't get too carried away with your little green men theory, Mulder," he snapped. "I bet there's a logical explanation for why this happened."

"We'll see," Mulder remarked.

XXXXX

Penelope sat in the conference room of the small sheriff's station. She typed away at her three laptops, doing background checks into each of the victims and the people in their lives. In a town of this size, she did not anticipate it would take long to find the overlap. She could not have been more wrong. The size of this town and the lack of Internet connection made it go so much slower than it should have. And to make matters worse, when JJ had attempted to call her, the signal was so crackly that they eventually gave up until JJ could get back to the station.

As she worked, her signal dropped without warning. In frustration, she pounded her palm on the table. "Shitballs!" she cursed, rubbing her temples.

"Everything alright in here?"

Turning around, Penelope found Agent Fox Mulder coming into the room, removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. She straightened up. "Oh," she said. "Hi there." She blinked several times. It surprised her he was making his way into the room to see her. He pulled out the seat next to her and plopped himself down in it. "Is Derek back with you?" she added.

"Yeah, he got pulled aside by Agent Hotchner." Mulder nodded to the computers in front of her. "What's going on with the machines?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the table.

She groaned. "It's the crappy internet here," she muttered, turning her attention back to the screens to try and reconnect. "Because it keeps cutting out it is making my basic background checks go way longer."

"Why didn't they leave you in Quantico if the connection is so bad?" he asked.

Winking at him, she laughed. "What, you wishing I wasn't here?" she teased.

Mulder laughed. "No," he insisted. "No, I'm glad you're here. You're the only one of your team being nice to Scully and I. But this internet thing does beg the question of why they brought you."

"Because this place is essentially a dead zone, they brought me to keep in better contact," she explained. "That and the computers here aren't up to standard and anything I would normally be able to send them wouldn't get here in time."

He studied her for a moment. "What does a girl like you do to get a job with the BAU?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

His bluntness and abrupt change in topic took her off guard, but if there was anything Penelope could do it was roll with changes. She blew out a sigh, wondering how many times she had gotten this question before.

"Well, let's just say I got caught doing some... _illegal_ activities via computers," she said. When he didn't reply with anything but a stare, she clarified. "I am a hacker, a damn good one."

That revelation visibly peaked Mulder's interest. "Are we talking high security, government level system good?" he asked.

Penelope opened her mouth to ask why he wanted to know, but before she could, someone cleared their throat from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of Derek in the doorway to the conference room. His arms were crossed over his chest. He glared at Mulder with a look that could freeze speeding traffic on a highway.

"Mulder, you have a phone call," Derek snapped, stalking into the room. He stood behind Penelope, as if protecting her from Mulder. "Some guy named Skinner couldn't get ahold of you on your cell, so he called the station."

Rising to his feet, Mulder nodded to Penelope. "Nice talking to you, Penelope," he said. "I may have another question for you after this this case is all done."

Penelope could practically feel Derek bristling behind her chair. "You might want to get that call," Derek growled through gritted teeth.

Mulder met Derek's eyes and grinned. "Thanks for letting me know," he said, winking at Penelope as he left.

She smiled, but she knew as soon as the other man left the room she would be giving her best friend a real talking to. And sure enough, as soon as Mulder disappeared from the conference room, she whirled to face Derek.

"What is going on with you?" she demanded, rising to her feet and shoving him in the shoulder.

Derek scowled. "That guy is an asshole, Baby Girl," he muttered. "You should have seen him at the crime scene, claiming this is somehow _supernatural_ because there's a pair of footprints and no tire tracks." He scoffed. "He's got some fuckin' nerve."

"Are you serious?" Penelope said with a roll of her eyes. "This is because he's got a different theory than you?"

"I wouldn't exactly call this a credible theory," he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. She recognized this stance, the one he got just before getting into an argument.

Sticking out her chin, Penelope stared at him unblinking. "Just because he doesn't think the same way you do, doesn't mean it can't be credible," she retorted. "Some people call what we do a load of crap, but it still works."

"Baby Girl, he looks for _aliens_!"

"And the government still seems to think there's a reason to fund it!" Penelope was unsure of why she was so fierce in her defense of this section of the FBI she had only just found out about. Maybe it had to do with the fact they dealt with the unexplained; maybe it had to do with Agent Mulder being handsome. It didn't really matter, though. She thought they could help.

Things that couldn't be explained were bound to happen.

She hadn't realized how loud they were until a knock sounded from the door. JJ stood at the door, Reid and Agent Mulder's partner, Scully continuing on past her.

"Everything okay in here?" JJ asked, arching a brow.

Derek squared his jaw. "It's fine," he grumbled.

Penelope shot him a look before glancing at JJ again. "I'll be right there, Jayje," she muttered. "Give us just a second."

JJ gave them both a skeptical look, but didn't press the issue. When she was gone, Penelope sighed and went forward to Derek. She placed one hand on his chest and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"I have to go talk with JJ about what she needed," she said. "The cell signal here sucks, so she came back here to tell me what she needed over the phone." She gave him a hopeful smile, hoping to end their petty spat so they wouldn't be angry at one another.

Derek nodded, tweaking her nose. His anger had visibly dissipated, but she was sure he was still unhappy with the fact the agents from the X Files were still there. As she left the room, she knew he was still gazing after her unhappily. She hated fighting with Derek, but some days he was so damn pigheaded.


	4. Jealousy

**Hi all! Thank you so much for your patience with this update being released. It is definitely my fault and not PolHop's because I have far less time to work on updates. Just to let you all know, we have NO plans whatsoever to not continue this story. It may be slow, but it will be continued no matter what as we are both dedicated X Files and Criminal Minds fans (not to mention Morgan/Garcia and Scully/Mulder shippers ;)! Thank you all again for the reviews, and expect PMs from us later expressing our gratitude for them!**

Night was falling over Washington DC, but FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner remained at work. He finished scribbling his signature on a report he would have to turn in the next morning. As he traded the signed paper out for another one, his office phone rang.

"Skinner," he answered as soon as he put the phone to his ear.

" _Assistant Director Skinner, this is Matt Cruz. I'm the section chief for the Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico_."

Skinner frowned and sat up straighter. What the hell was the Section Chief for the BAU doing calling him? And at this late of an hour, too.

"What can I do for you, Cruz?" Skinner asked, running his hand over his head.

Cruz cleared his throat on the other end of the line before speaking. " _Sir, I'm calling because I wanted to talk to you about two of your agents. Dana Scully and her partner, Fox Mulder_."

Skinner could have smacked his forehead and made a snarky remark about how he could have guessed this. But instead of doing that, he kept his voice steady to respond.

"What about them?" he asked.

" _Well, it seems like there's been some miscommunication over who is taking care of a case out in Wyoming right now,"_ Cruz said. _"My team's unit chief, Aaron Hotchner gave me a call to ask why they were out here. I said I was going to check with you before telling them how to handle your agents being there_."

Skinner was silent while he thought about his two most unruly agents. The X Files was the FBI's idea of a scratch on their otherwise stainless steel image. As hard as he came down on his agents, he believed in the work they did. He had seen the people they helped, and he knew about the good did.

That didn't mean he was going to give them the okay to trample on other agents' territory, though. And knowing Fox Mulder, he was going to find a way to get out there if he was determined there was an X File.

" _Assistant Director? Are you there?_ " Cruz's voice broke through Skinner's thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here," Skinner said, rubbing his forehead.

"Well…" Cruz said. "I'm wondering what your plans are for dealing with this. If you believe this is an X File, I'll tell my team they need to work together with your agents. But based off of everything my agents are telling me, there's nothing supernatural about this case." Skinner could almost hear a sneer in the other agent's voice as he spoke about the X Files. Something about that tone made Skinner bristle.

He heaved another sigh, gritting his teeth. "Listen, Cruz," he said. "I know the rest of the FBI looks down on the X Files, but Agents Mulder and Scully are the best at their job. They have the ability to find the paranormal where it's hard to find. You would do well to not doubt them."

"Are you saying you think this case is a paranormal one?" Cruz asked, incredulous.

"I am." In truth, Skinner had no idea what was happening on this case because he had no idea Mulder and Scully had even gone out to Wyoming. But no way was he going to listen to someone demean his agents. "And I believe you need to trust their judgment. Tell your agents to do the same."

Cruz remained silent for a moment, but then he relented. "I'll give Agent Hotchner a call and tell him to work with your agents then," he begrudged.

"Good," Skinner said, hanging up the phone. As soon as he hung up his office phone, he pulled out his cellphone and scrolled for Mulder's number. It wasn't too late in the time zone he was in. He was sure Mulder and Scully would be working still.

He hoped Mulder had a damn good reason for interfering with the BAU.

XXXXX

Scully was making her way back to the main conference room when she heard the tail end of a conversation Mulder was having on his cell phone in a side room reserved for speaking with victims' families. It sounded heated, so instead of continuing to the conference room, she detoured to see who her partner had been talking to.

She walked in just as he hung up. He hadn't turned to see who came in yet, so she stared at his posture. After a brief moment, he turned to her. Instantly after seeing it was her, she could tell he tried to change his demeanor.

"Who was that on the phone, Mulder?" she asked, placing the papers she had in her hand down onto the conference table. She had brought back her finds from the Medical Examiners office.

"It was no one," he replied. "How did the M.E.'s office go?"

She stared at him. They had been partners long enough to know he was deflecting the question, but she shrugged it off. "We were able to confirm the first victim was hit only once in the face, with one blunt object. The second victim Daniel Watkins, had no other abnormalities b-"

"You mean other than being sliced in half?" Mulder interrupted.

"When I conducted the autopsy, that was the only thing of significance. There were trace amounts of alcohol but that was it. It seems as though he was also hit only once." She shrugged her shoulders, still trying to figure out how it was possible. Both victims seem to have had one object with enough force to kill both of them on impact. But who could have the strength to do this much damage in one hit? "How did you make out?"

Mulder smirked. "You mean with Agent Asshole?"

"He's not that bad, Mulder," she said, trying to defend the other team. She didn't want one of the members from the BAU to walk by and hear him talking like that. This was still their case, and they didn't need any ammunition for them to get thrown off the case.

"How would you know, Scully? You didn't have to go to the crime scene with him. He didn't want to move ten feet past where the body had been found. He missed the footprints because of that," he said smugly.

"Mulder, give him a break. Not everyone jumps on the _It's an X Files_ train. You know that. We have run into that more often than not."

"I know that, Scully, and I'm not _making_ this an X File. It already is. There were no tire tracks. That would prove someone didn't drove into Daniel Watkins. Someone or something threw the vehicle slicing him in half. Morgan didn't want to hear it could have been something else, though."

"Even if it _is_ an X File – and I am not saying it is – you know how this works. They need to figure that out on their own first. We can't throw that in their faces, especially not Agent Morgan. He seems like he would be the toughest to ever get to wrap his head around something like this. He seems a lot like me when I first started out in the X Files," she told Mulder, knowing he would associate her skepticism with Morgan's.

"Why do you keep defending him?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"He seems like he knows his stuff. Plus I have heard a lot about him throughout the years." Then she mumbled, "And he's not that bad to look at."

Mulder's face first held shock, then annoyance. "You think he's good looking?" he asked. When it came out, though, it sounded harsh.

"Well, yeah." She looked at him like he had two heads, "I'm sure the whole female and some of the male population think Agent Morgan is good looking."

Scully moved through the room back towards the door she wanted to make sure no one was around to hear them conversing since they had left open. She only turned back to Mulder when she heard papers being flung on the table in irritation.

When he looked back at her, she could clearly see something she had never seen on his face before, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. He looked her in the eyes before speaking. "Well, you and the rest of the population are shit out of luck. He's pathetically in love with their technical analyst." He shrugged. "I can see why."

" _What_?" Scully asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me. He's in love with her. I just can't tell if he knows it yet or not. For god sakes, he wouldn't even let me call her; he was like a fucking cat pissing everywhere to mark his damn territory. He made it clear to me, she was his and I needed to back down." But then he smiled. "But Garcia seems interested in _me_."

"What do you mean _interested_?" For the first time in ages, Scully felt jealousy roll through her.

"I can see it in her eyes. She wants to know about the X Files." Scully physically relaxed at his declaration. So the technical analyst was interested in Mulder because of the X Files, not him himself. "But if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure she is in love with him, too. Shame," Mulder said with a shrug. "She could do better than some pompous asshole."

Completely forgetting about the case for a brief moment, Scully asked, "Do you think they are already together and keeping it quiet?"

 _Why do I even care?_ Scully thought to herself.

Mulder shook his head. "No, I don't think either of them have any idea how the other feels. They're clueless."

Scully, knowing what Mulder was thinking when he saw the hint of a smirk on his face, spoke up, "Don't even thing about it, Mulder. Do not purposely make Agent Morgan jealous."

"But why not? Maybe it'll force him to get his head out of his ass to make a move." He grinned. "Or maybe it'll force _her_ to get her head out of her ass. You never know."

XXXXX

Derek sat in the conference room, frustrated. This case was making no sense to him. How was it possible for a vehicle to cut someone in half with no fucking tire tracks leading to the kill spot? It was unbelievable. And then _Spooky_. The guy just pissed him off. There was no basis for an X Files anywhere in life, and no way in hell did he want this bastard flirting with Penelope. That was _his_ job.

His thought was interrupted when he saw the object of his frustration walk into the room. _Great…_

"Oh, Agent Morgan, I didn't know you were in here," Mulder said with a small smirk.

"Sure." Morgan saw through the bullshit. "Do you have any new information?" Morgan asked, looking up from his papers for a brief moment.

"Scully informed me that both victims were hit only once," Mulder said, nonchalantly. "I'm gonna head over to Garcia's station. I need her to run some checks for me."

He bristled, angered by the mention of Penelope. "Is it about the case, or are you gonna have her hunt down fucking Bigfoot?" Morgan shot back after hearing he was heading to where Garcia was.

"It's about the case, but if I can get someone more time alone with her I'd have her look up anything." Mulder adjusted his tie. "She's got some skills."

"She's not your toy. You can't just use her to get information on your little alien hunts," Derek snapped as stood up. Before he could continue though, he was interrupted by Reid walking into the room.

"I was just talking to Agent Scully. You know she is quite fascinating with her theories and with her being an actual medical doctor she can perform the autopsies that are needed," Reid said, moving to sit next to Morgan to look over the case. "I quite like her." He smiled faintly.

Derek noted the look on Mulder's face at Reid's mention of Scully. A look of distaste and, well, jealousy. A devilish, almost evil, thought entered his mind. He forced himself to suppress a grin. He had the bastard.

Finally there was something he cold use to get under Mulder's skin. Seemed as though Mulder had himself a little crush on Agent Scully.

"Yeah, Dana _,_ _is_ a great." Morgan agreed with Reid sitting back down. He was happy he finally had the upper hand, in their pissing war.

He watched Mulder shift uncomfortably for a moment, but then something changed. Mulder looked at Reid. "Reid, would you do me a favor and tell me what's Garcia's favorite food? I have a feeling her and I will be working really late in her office tonight. I know she has been having some problems with the internet connection, and I wanted to keep her company tonight. Maybe bring her some dinner."

Morgan saw red. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? Reid was too fast for him, though, and answered Mulder without even questioning it. "Garcia? She is okay with anything that doesn't have meat. She's a vegetarian. Her favorite is-"

"It doesn't matter what her favorite food is, because _I_ will be staying with her tonight. I've already got everything we need. She won't need you here, _Spooky,"_ Morgan snarled.

Mulder shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his face, before he left the room. Morgan sat there for a moment, feeling like he won, but then he shot up. He knew exactly where Mulder was headed, and he was having none of that.


	5. Bloody Boulders

**Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

 **Here's the next installment of this crossover finally! It was my fault again, not PolHop's, that this is late. It's that time of the semester when paper drafts are due. We hope you'll all enjoy :) Thank you so much for the reviews, too!**

"Garcia, are you sure you don't want to go back to the hotel and get some sleep?" Hotch asked, poking his head into Penelope's makeshift office. "You don't need to stay here all night. You can –"

Penelope cut him off. "No, sir," she said. "It's really okay. I want to try and get a better signal tonight so we can start fresh in the morning."

Hotch shot her a skeptical glance, but gave her a curt nod. "Alright," he said. "There's coffee on the pot for you."

"Yes, there is!"

Both Hotch and Garcia turned to see Derek coming into the room. Two cups of coffee were in his hands, and he set both of them down on the conference table, a safe distance away from her computers. Penelope's lips twitched into a smile at how well Derek knew her. Had he placed them any closer she would have dumped both the full cups of piping hot, tempting coffee into the trash.

Her boy knew better than that, though.

"Thank you, Baby Boy," Penelope purred, accepting the coffee and taking a sip. It was scalding, burning her tongue slightly, but the nutty hazelnut flavor warmed her belly in the same way a whiskey would.

Hotch nodded to them both, checking his watch. "It's nearly eleven," he said. "I'm going to get some sleep." He looked at Morgan. "You coming with me?"

Derek shook his head. "Nope," he said with a nod. "I'm staying here. Gonna try and help Garcia with whatever she needs."

That didn't even faze Hotch as he walked off; he was so used to them acting this way. Penelope, however, was surprised. She didn't think Derek was serious when he had said he would be joining her. She was almost positive it had been a ploy to scare off Agent Mulder. No. He was intent to stay with her.

"You were serious, huh?" she asked, as he sat down beside her. He sipped his coffee and nodded. Penelope studied him, arching a brow in irritation over the fact he hadn't responded. "Why, though?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Derek leaned back in his chair. He met her gaze. "I thought I would keep you company," he said simply. "If you're gonna be up all night, there's no reason you have to do it alone."

Something lay hidden behind his obsidian eyes as he spoke, though. Mouth dropping, Penelope pointed at him when she realized what he had done. She shoved her finger into his broad chest. "You jerk!" she said, trying to hide a smile. She choked on her laugh as she tried to conceal it. "You're just hanging out with me because you don't want Fox Mulder spending time with me."

"No! I – " Derek tried to feign ignorance, but Penelope saw right through it.

Penelope leaned forward, tapping his nose with her index finger. "Are you _jealous_?" she teased.

He balked and she laughed even louder. "I'm – I'm not jealous!" he protested. "I just don't want you spending time with a creep like him. I'm just looking out for you."

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at his overprotectiveness. Did this really have to happen every time she tried to make a new friend?

"You know, you really don't have to be a jerk to Mulder," Penelope said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Derek arched a brow and snorted. "Baby, he searches for little green men. Why are you so obsessed with me treating him like a normal person? 'Cause I got news for you: he ain't anywhere close to normal."

Narrowing her eyes, Penelope straightened her back. "I'm not exactly normal either," she retorted. "Are you saying you don't treat me normal?"

"You _know_ that's ridiculous," he said, shooting her a look. Gradually the irritated look faded to form his widest megawatt grin. "You're my best friend…I treat you _better_ than a normal person." He winked.

Penelope wasn't charmed, though. She loved Derek to death, but he could be a real asshole sometimes. She liked to think there were forces in the world she and the rest of the human race couldn't comprehend. It left some mystery to the planet for her, and if Fox Mulder was the man to talk to about what was out there, she wanted to discover them with his help. "Just because he doesn't believe in things the same way you do doesn't mean you can act like you're better than him."

He lost his grin after she snapped at him. "Garcia, I –" he tried to say.

"You shouldn't be so judgmental," she flared on. "He's a smart guy, and just because he and Agent Scully solve their cases differently than we are doesn't change the fact they help people!" She stuck her chin out. "And you never know…maybe there are things out there we can't explain."

This time Derek scoffed. "Baby, don't tell me you actually _believe_ some of this stuff," he said. She didn't answer him right away, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh my God, you do, don't you?"

"I want to believe," she insisted. "There really are some things out there we can't figure out, and everything happens for a reason. Maybe those reasons are something a little more…abstract." She nodded in defiance. "You should open your mind a little bit."

Derek sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly. "Okay, Baby Girl," he said in defeat. "I'll try to be nicer to him."

She grinned brightly. "Good," she said, relishing the fact she had won and gotten her way. "See? What would you do without me?"

He chuckled. "I'd probably be significantly less friendly," he admitted.

"Well, you should try and like him because I want to pick his brain when we get back to DC about all of his cases he's done," she said. "Maybe over coffee or –"

Derek cleared his throat, his brow furrowing slightly. "I don't think you're going to get him to go to get coffee with you," he blurted out.

For a moment, she felt a knife stick in her heart. Was this Battle all over again? Was Derek about to tell her that yet another handsome man wasn't going to be interested in her?

Before she could open her mouth to say anything, his finger went to her lips. She stared at his finger.

"Baby, you know I didn't mean that," he said. "You're a sexy mama who I would cross ten thousand miles to flirt with."

Penelope glared at him. "Then what the hell did you mean?" she accused.

Derek tweaked her nose. "I _mean_ , silly girl, that he won't have coffee with you because he's totally in love with Agent Scully."

Blinking several times, Penelope stared at Derek. "He's in love with his partner," she repeated. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Serious as a heart attack," he claimed. "He's got a gaze when he looks at her. It's like there's no one else in the room when she's there. Plus, I called her Dana and he really didn't like that. I thought he was going to punch me out when I said her first name."

"Do you _like_ her?" Penelope asked, a twinge of jealousy tickling the tip of her spine. She liked Dana Scully. She thought she was incredibly intelligent, but she in no way wanted her to be anywhere near Derek.

Derek laughed. "She's a good lookin' woman," he admitted. "But she's not my type. Not even close. She's too into Spooky to be interested in me, anyway."

Penelope physically relaxed at that. She couldn't help but feel pleased with that. She smiled as she leaned in toward him. "So what do you think about it? Think they're ever gonna get together?"

Leaning in toward her so they could conspire together, Derek flashed her his classic grin. "I don't just think they're going to get together. They _are_ going to get together."

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"Because you and I are going to get them together," he said. He held up his fist for her to bump. "What do you say, Baby Girl? Wanna help me play matchmaker?"

Penelope stared at his completely serious face. When the first words left his mouth, she thought he had to have been joking. No way did he mean this. But then she saw the intensity he was looking at her with she knew he wasn't joking. She reached her hand up to grasp the fist he offered her. He grinned as her hand closed around his fist. Laughing, she nodded.

"Let's do it," she said with a grin and a mischievous wink.

XXXXX

Scully pulled her medical gloves off and peered at the clock in the small town coroner's office. It was nearing eight o'clock in the morning, and she had arrived an hour earlier to look over the first victim's body again. Lexi Hanson's entire face had been smashed in, which was what resulted in her death, but Scully was still in need of _what_ had killed her. So bright and early in the morning, before anyone else was awake, she came down to the medical examiner's office and started doing more digging.

So far, she had found several strange particles in the tissue of the victim's face. Finding the one old microscope in the office, she stuck the particles on the tray and slid it underneath the microscope. She frowned when she realized what it was.

Pulling out her cellphone, she dialed Mulder, hoping to get ahold of him.

"Mulder, it's me," she said as soon as she heard him pick up.

"Hey, Scully," he said. It sounded like he had his mouth full. "What's up?"

"Are you eating something?" she asked before cutting to the chase. His voice sounded muffled almost.

She heard him chuckle. "Yeah," he said, his voice much clearer now. "Garcia brought some scones in that she picked up from a local bakery after her all-nighter. She's pretty great."

Scully coughed, shifting uncomfortably at the mention of the quirky and beautiful technical analyst who Mulder seemed somewhat taken with. She didn't care if Garcia was apparently head over heels for Agent Morgan; Mulder seemed all too comfortable with her.

"Um, yeah," she said. "I guess. That's not why I –"

"You sound strange, Scully," he observed. "What's that in your voice?"

She rolled her eyes. "There's nothing in my voice," she said. "I'm calling because I think I found something new about the first victim, Lexi Hanson."

Mulder paused for a moment. "What's that?" he finally asked.

"There were some particles embedded in her face," she said, glad to have moved on from Penelope Garcia. "They look like rock fragments. We need to tell the BAU to go back to the first crime scene to check for a murder weapon that could be a rock."

"You don't think the local PD would have noticed a large rock or boulder that was smattered with blood?" Mulder asked.

Scully snorted and ignored him. "We need to talk to the BAU and let them –"

"Hang on there, Scully," he said, his voice lowering n the other end of the line. "Why should we tell them so soon? We should give our friends from Quantico a little break. You and I can go check out the scene together. The rest of them aren't openminded enough. We can gather the proof we need, then bring it back when they'll believe us."

"Mulder, why the hell would they believe anything we say if we _lie_ to them?" she asked. "We were told we could stay if we let the BAU take the lead on this."

Mulder chuckled yet again, causing Scully to roll her eyes. "Where would the fun in that be?" he asked. "You stay at the ME's office. I'll swing by and pick you up."

"I…" Scully started to say. But it was pointless to continue because he had hung up on her.

XXXXX

Scully glanced over at Mulder as he pulled to a stop at the first murder scene. Lexi Hanson had lived on the outskirts of town, a place where no one would have heard her scream. It was the perfect place to commit a murder.

"What do you honestly think we're going to find out here?" she asked. "The local PD combed this place over and found nothing. There's nothing we can do to possibly find anything else here."

"Don't be so doubtful, Scully," Mulder said, opening the car and stepping out. "If you found rock particles in the victim's face, there's going to be a rock around here somewhere."

She sighed and got out of the car. Once Mulder's mind was set on something, there was no stopping him. "You do know that those rock particles could have been from a small stone that the killer used to bash into the victim's face over and over. It doesn't have to have been something that hit once."

"Think about it, Scully," Mulder said, turning around and walking backwards so he could address her. "There were _no_ tire tracks for the car killing the second victim. The car was on its side. What else could be the cause if not something that can't be explained? Someone must have lifted it up. And the fact it would be such a different MO to go from one object multiple times to one object one time makes it even more likely there's something we can't explain." He chuckled, turning back around to walk normally. "I can't wait to see the look on Agent Morgan's face when we show him that there is something paranormal happening here."

Scully rolled her eyes, following after her partner as he jogged off toward the back of the house, through the coarse blonde grass. Of course he wanted to show up Agent Morgan, the alpha male.

"What is it you and Morgan don't like about each other?" Scully said. "You're the one who knows how to make a profile. Tell me what it is."

"Pure issue of being opposites," Mulder said. "I believe and he doesn't. Then there's the part where we're similar: we both stubbornly believe the other is wrong."

Scully arched a brow as she started searching through the grass for any rocks with dried blood on them. "That's all?"

"Well, that and the fact he thinks I'm after Penelope Garcia," Mulder replied. "He doesn't like that I'm hanging around her. You should have seen him when she offered me a scone. He looked like he wanted to rip my head off." He laughed, squatting down in the grass to peer closer through the grass.

Looking away from the ground, Scully placed her hands on her hips. She _really_ wasn't enjoying how much Mulder was bringing up the BAU's technical analyst. "Why _are_ you hanging around her so much, though?" she asked. She swallowed. "If you're not interested in her, the way… _Morgan_ thinks you are, then why do you keep trying to befriend her?"

Mulder looked up at her, halting his search for the rock to look her directly in the eye. "Because she can help us find the truth," he said. "I think she can help us find the Smoking Man and blow the top off of the whole conspiracy the government has been keeping from us."

Scully was about to respond when she saw a deep crimson stain poking up behind Mulder. She dropped the subject of Garcia for the moment and walked around behind him. She couldn't believe he was right, but there on the ground was a large boulder. It was stained with blood.

"Mulder," she breathed, squatting down in the grass to observe the rock closer. "I can't believe it, but you're right."

He turned, moving to stand next to the boulder. Whistling, he knelt down beside her so the tips of their knees touched. "Well, it looks like we should go and talk to the BAU," he said. "They'll want to know about this."


	6. Something They Can Use

**Disclaimer: We own nothing.**

 **Hello, all! So Polhop and I have been dreadfully busy, and that is why we have taken so long to get back to this. With the X-Files revival over, we figured it would be fitting for us to get back to it. We appreciate all who have read and reviewed, and without further adieu, here is the next installment of** _ **Profiling the Truth**_ **.**

After pulling an all-nighter in the station, Penelope felt dead on her feet. But with the crappy Internet connection, she needed to get this done. However, she'd made Derek lay down on the couch in the small room where the police interviewed victims' families. He, unlike her, needed to be fresh and ready for crime fighting.

For the most part though he had remained awake, keeping her company while she worked. After deciding they would try and bring Mulder and Scully together, they didn't discuss the X Files agents any further. Instead, they joked with one another like they were in their own little world.

There were some virtues to the Internet rolling along too slow.

Putting her coffee to her lips, she rubbed her eyes to try and push her exhaustion away. She put her glasses back in place and checked her searches. They were almost done, the bars crawling toward ninety percent. Glaring at her screens, she cursed the slow connections of the Wild West.

"How're the searches coming, Baby Girl?"

Glancing up from glaring at the screens, that were infuriating her, Penelope found her best friend standing in the doorway with two cups of coffee. She arched a brow, raising her coffee cup she had from the station.

"I appreciate the thought, Morgan, but I've already got some of the steaming crap this station calls coffee." She scowled at the insipid coffee in the cup, crankier from the fact she had no search results yet than from being tired.

"Wow, someone's cranky from not getting what she wants from the information super highway." He shot her his blinding white grin, setting one of the cups down in front of her. " _This_ is from the diner down the street. Best coffee in town, according to the locals anyway. Called it _heaven in a cup._ "

Brightening, Penelope snatched the cup and took an eager sip. The coffee, while steaming, was indeed heaven in a cup. Giving a small moan of delight, she smiled up at him.

"Ooh, you know how to keep Mama happy," she purred.

Derek tweaked her nose before sitting down beside her. His eyes caught sight of her computer screen, though. When he looked back at her, he frowned. "I thought you said you hadn't found anything yet." He pointed at the screen.

She glanced over at it, averting her eyes. "Well, looking up records in the FBI for two agents is far quicker with a crappy connection than compiling thousands of government documents."

He arched a thick, dark eyebrow. "Huh," he said. "And you were looking these two up because…" His voice trailed off as he waited expectantly for an answer.

Huffing, Penelope crossed her arms over her chest. "Because I think they're interesting and I wanted to look at the different cases they've solved. You should see some of the files in here about monsters they've investigated. There was even a guy who could squeeze through _any_ hole imaginable. _Any_ hole, Derek."

Derek stared at her for a moment, blinking. "You're forgetting one thing, Garcia," he finally said.

"Oh? And that would be?"

"That there are no such things as monsters," he said. His eyes beckoned with a challenge, practically daring her to come back at him.

Penelope wasn't one to back down from a challenge, so without balking, she shot back, "You know, there's nothing that disproves what they solve."

"Yeah, only everything science has ever told us," Derek snorted. "Mulder's an idiot if he – "

"Oh, ho! Don't even try that!" she said. "Fox Mulder is no idiot! He graduated from Oxford. He's a profiler, just like _you_. You can't be an idiot to do those things."

Derek shook his head. "Garcia, he threw away a promising career in Violent Crimes to chase after aliens," he said, bluntly. "If that doesn't make him an idiot, I don't know what does. And I'm not sure what that says about Scully if she tags along for this bullshit."

Penelope narrowed her eyes. "I wanted to see what they're all about," she said. "And they help people, just like we do. That's nothing to look down on."

Before Derek could even respond, they were interrupted by none other than the agents of the X Files entering the room, with Hotch right behind them.

"I'm telling you Agent Hotchner, we've found a piece of evidence we need you to see," Mulder said, stopping and crossing his arms over his chest.

Hotch, who rarely showed much emotion at all, turned to face Mulder with a steely glare. His look almost froze Penelope's blood. She held her breath as she waited for her boss to respond.

"Agent Mulder, I don't take kindly to agents undermining my authority, especially when they're only here on the condition that they listen to me," Hotch said, his voice sharp enough to cut steel.

Penelope watched, curiously. She half expected Mulder to back off in some way or another, but he didn't; he remained straight-faced, staring at Hotch evenly.

"I understand," he said, keeping his gaze on Hotch. "But right now, I think you'll care more about what we have to show you than by the fact my partner and I went out without telling you."

Glancing over at Derek, Penelope tried to gage his reaction. Her best friend stared at Mulder with animosity. The tension in the room compressed down on her chest so that the room felt almost humid. She waited with anticipation to see if Hotch would listen to Mulder and Scully.

After several agonizing moments of silence, Hotch gritted his teeth and gave a short nod. Turning to Derek, he said, "Morgan, you and I will go with them."

Derek rolled his eyes, but rose from his seat. "All right, then," he grumbled, his eyes meeting Penelope's briefly. She gave him a small smile as the room emptied, leaving her alone in the silence with her steaming cup of coffee. Her eyes found her screens again, and she groaned.

Just a few more percentage points until she could get her search results.

XXXXX

Mulder directed Agent Hotchner down the road toward the first murder scene at Lexi Hanson's property. He sat beside Hotchner in the passenger side seat, with Scully and Morgan in the back. Clearly the BAU's unit chief was unhappy with the idea of following Mulder's lead, but with how little progress they had made on coming up with a profile so far he had no other options.

Morgan was definitely less than thrilled; he wore a scowl that showed his distaste.

"What's it's like to follow this whack job around everywhere you go?" he asked Scully, glancing over at her.

Mulder smirked and looked back at his partner as she made a face at Morgan's question. She arched her brow.

"It's interesting," Scully responded. "But I don't think it's anything you should be judging."

Mulder couldn't help but smile briefly.

"You seem too rational for this sort of thing," Morgan threw in. "What's – "

Hotchner grunted from the driver's seat. "This isn't productive, Morgan," he said. "We're almost there anyway."

Watching Morgan be snapped at by his boss made things easier on Mulder; he didn't need to bother making a quippy remark. That, surprisingly, did not bother him he was beat to the punch on silencing Morgan.

As soon as they pulled up to the first victim's former home, Mulder pointed them toward the field behind the house. Scully walked behind them with the reluctant Morgan, who definitely seemed to prefer the more rational of the pair of X Files agents. Mulder couldn't deny that it bothered him to see Scully seemingly taking a liking to the gruff agent from the BAU.

That bothered him far more than the fact he hadn't been the one to tell Morgan to shut up.

"This had better be something we can use," Hotchner said, as they entered the tall grass Hotch and Scully had been trekking through not one hour earlier.

"If it were a waste of our time, we wouldn't have brought you out here," Mulder shot back. "Contrary to what you think, we're actually trying to help."

Morgan snorted from behind him, but remained silent.

"Just show us what you have," Hotchner said.

Mulder trudged through the grass, trying to find the tracks of where he and Scully had walked. He caught sight of the trampled grass and pointed to where the boulder rested. The red stains were evident, unmistakable and leading to no doubt this was the murder weapon used to smash Lexi Hanson's face in.

"There you have it," Mulder said, watching as both Morgan and Hotchner pushed their sunglasses up to look more closely at the boulder. Their eyes told him they were lost on how this rock had been lifted to kill someone, much less how it had been moved all the way out here, away from the crime scene.

Hotchner squatted down to observe it closer. " _This_ is where you found it?" he asked Mulder. "All the way out here?"

"Scout's honor," Mulder said, raising his right hand nonchalantly.

"This rock could only be lifted by someone with extreme physical strength," Hotchner said. "Judging by the amount of overkill we've seen on the victims, it's fair to say we're looking for a man with lots of upper body strength. That should narrow down the search for the unsub significantly."

Scully crossed her arms over chest. "Agent Hotchner, I don't mean to overstep my boundaries here, but even if we found someone who could lift this boulder, there's no possible way we'll find anyone who could lift a two ton car and leave no tire tracks _or_ with enough strength to cut a man in half."

"My partner's right," Mulder said, going to stand by Scully because it felt better to have a line of defense. "There's no way there's a man strong enough to have done the second murder. If there _were_ someone like that, the local authorities would have mentioned him to us."

Hotchner rose back to his full height and looked hardly at them both; Mulder and Scully stared back evenly.

"If you're suggesting that something paranormal is going on, I'm not going to hear it," Hotchner said. "We don't have time for theories that won't take us anywhere. What we do need to do is find this unsub before he kills again!"

Morgan was about to respond, but before words came from his open mouth, his cellphone rang. He checked the caller ID, and without hesitation, he answered it. Mulder observed the other man's face and deduced he must have been talking to Penelope Garcia. He looked far too calm when he put the phone to his ear for it to be anyone else. Morgan turned away from the group and chatted with ease.

"Alright, thanks, Baby Girl," Morgan said before he hung up. Refocusing his attention to Mulder, Scully, and Hotchner, he added, "That was Garcia. She's got something for us." His eyes shot to Mulder, making sure he got this message specifically. "She's got something for us that we can actually _use_."


	7. Profiling One Another

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Hey, folks! Sorry it has taken us so long to come out with this. It's been a busy past few months for both Polhop and I. Thank you for your patience and reviews!**

"This Morgan guy, he thinks he knows everything, Scully," Mulder grumbled. Scully and he were in a side office where Agent Hotchner had essentially exiled them since getting back to the station. "He's got a stick up his ass."

Scully rolled her eyes. Her partner's ever-growing rivalry with Agent Morgan was becoming increasingly irritating.

"Mulder, I think you need to take a breather and remember who is in charge of this investigation," she said, rubbing her temples. "They found the information through proper channels, and you're mad because you think they're discounting the boulder."

"They _are_ discounting the boulder, Scully," Mulder said, spitting out the shell of a sunflower seed into the trash bin. "They heard what Morgan said, and they just think the boulder is a coincidence."

Scully leaned back in her chair and stared at Mulder, hoping her gaze would knock some sense into her partner. "Their technical analyst found that the victims have a connection, Mulder. What do you want them to do? Forget that, too?" She sighed. "I have no reason to say we should get rid of the boulder, Mulder, but I understand why these people aren't going to listen to us about it. They deal with facts, with behaviors. A bloody boulder would peak their interest, but not draw their attention from something found on a computer."

Mulder shook his head. "I completely agree with the fact that its important the victims work at the same place, but I won't agree that it's the only thing that matters."

 _In true Mulder-fashion_ , she thought. _Stubborn to a fault._

Before she opened her mouth again, Agent Hotchner entered the room. Like usual, his gaze shifted to Mulder the moment he entered the room. The BAU unit chief rarely found a reason to look at Scully with irritation, but with Mulder he always found a reason to give him a steely glare.

"Agents," Hotchner said, nodding.

Scully rose to her feet. "Agent Hotchner, what can we help you with?" she asked.

Hotchner's eyes remained on Mulder for just a moment longer. He looked at Scully, though. "Not what you both can help me with," he said. "It's what _you_ can help me with, Agent Scully."

Scully did not miss that Hotchner's request visibly peaked Mulder's interest. Her partner sat forward, arching a brow at the BAU agent.

"Alright, then," she said. "What can I do?"

"Come with me to check out the diner," another voice said.

 _This is about to get good_ , Scully thought as Morgan came in behind his boss. "Agent Morgan," she said, nodding. "You want me to come along?"

Morgan grinned, but his smile was much more directed at Mulder than Scully. It was a grin of triumph. "Yup," he said. "Fresh eyes would be helpful. The rest of my team has other things to do."

As she expected, Mulder stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, I'll grab my stuff, and the three of us can – "

"Actually, Mulder," Hotch said, "you're staying here. Assistant Director Skinner hasn't been able to reach you on your cellphone out here. He wants a full report on your… _side_ of the investigation." He fixed Mulder with a frigid look, not bothering to hide his distaste for the X Files side of the investigation.

"Why can't I go with you?" Mulder protested. "I can be helpful."

Scully rolled her eyes. Glancing over at her partner, she said, "Mulder, just give Skinner a call. Agent Morgan and I can go speak with the diner patrons, and we'll let you know what we find."

Clearing his throat, Mulder finally looked at Scully. He looked none too happy to be leaving her with no one but Derek Morgan. She didn't truly understand the rivalry between the two men, but she was going to do whatever she could to quell the issue. She gave him a small smile before grabbing her gun and badge off the table. Strapping the gun to her belt, she started toward the door, throwing a look at Morgan finally.

"I'm ready to go when you are," she said.

Scully could almost imagine the first question that would be coming from Morgan's mouth when they got in the car. "So what's the story with you and _Spooky_?" Morgan asked, a teasing grin lighting up his face as he turned onto the road out of the lot of the police station.

"We're partners," Scully stated bluntly. "I was assigned to work with him by the bureau, and we've been working together ever since."

Morgan snorted. "We both know that's not what I'm asking you."

She glanced sideways at him, mildly annoyed. "Why should I answer that question?" she asked in irritation.

"Because even if you don't answer that question, you know I'm a behavioral analyst," he retorted. "I can figure out a lot just by the way you responded to me asking you."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Scully refocused her gaze outside on the golden, flat landscape. She was in no mood to talk about this with a perfect stranger right now.

"C'mon, you know there's something going on there," Morgan chuckled. "Spooky has a thing for you. And you _know_ he does."

Scully cleared her throat. "No, I don't," she said with discomfort.

Morgan's laughter filled the car yet again, but this time she decided to come up with a retort for him. "You know, I don't see you doing anything about _your_ feelings for Agent Garcia." The laughter stopped abruptly, filling the car with silence. Scully felt mildly pleased with herself for shutting him up.

"Not sure what you're talking about," Morgan said. It was his turn to clear his throat uncomfortably.

She barked a laugh. "Sure you do," she said. "See, you don't have to have the title of behavioral analyst to tell when someone has feelings for another person. That just comes naturally to people."

Morgan cast a look sideways at her, this time his look being the one that was mildly annoyed. "If that were the case, Agent Scully, we would _all_ be profilers. You just happen to be an FBI agent who has some experience with observing people."

"I'm a medical doctor, Agent Morgan," Scully said. "I don't observe people; I treat them. I can easily see what's right in front of me, though."

Morgan snorted, not bothering to say a word to that. Scully felt somewhat satisfied with herself, knowing that she had at least shut him down, even if she had not thrown him off her case.

XXXXX

"Sir, I'm telling you right now, working with these agents is not going well," Mulder said over the phone.

Skinner rolled his eyes, leaning back in his desk chair as he listened to his agent drone on about why he was not enjoying working with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, waiting for a point in the conversation where he could speak.

"That Agent Morgan is consistently undermining my theories, and he doesn't want to listen to a word we say," Mulder said. "The only one who has been remotely cooperative is their technical analyst, and – "

Finally, Skinner could take no more, and he interrupted. "Mulder, listen, I don't need the rundown on everything that isn't going the way you want it to out there," he muttered. "I'm just calling because _I_ got another call from the BAU section chief, Mateo Cruz. Agent Hotchner has been calling Cruz because he's finding your theories…distracting."

"We found a boulder out in the middle of nowhere that was covered in blood and likely the weapon used in the death of the first victim," Mulder protested. "Agent Hotchner isn't – "

"Mulder, whatever you found and whatever theory you attach to it isn't going to be something these people listen to," Skinner said. "But that's the only way you're going to get to stay out there and investigate."

Mulder huffed. "How are we supposed to get any work done if we can't work on the case the way we want to and with people who don't believe what we're finding?"

"Didn't you say the technical analyst was being helpful?" Skinner asked. "Get her to help."

"Yeah, that'll be difficult," Mulder said. "She's got Agent Morgan playing watchdog around her. He hates me and seems to think I'm trying to steal his girlfriend."

Skinner rubbed his temples. "Mulder, I don't know," he said. "Get creative. But I don't want to get any more calls saying you're interrupting the BAU's investigation. The next one won't leave you so lucky. They'll make me pull you off the case if you aren't careful."

Mulder was silent for a few moments before sighing. "I'm going to find the truth about what happened to those two people," he vowed. "I'll try to play by the rules while doing it."

Somehow the tone of Mulder's voice made Skinner doubt there would be much done by the book if Mulder could help it.


End file.
